SDG 7 and Sustainable Recovery
Key aspects of SDG 7:
1. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all (all SDG 7 targets)
The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the need for reliable energy access, whether for treating patients, storing vaccines, or supplying communities with clean water. 1 billion people are currently relying on health facilities without electricity.
At the current rate of progress, the world is not on track to achieve any of the targets under SDG 7. Despite progress in reducing the number of people globally without access to clean energy, the COVID-19 pandemic reversed the progress. An estimated 660 million people will be left without access to electricity in 2030, and 2.4 billion people will have no access to clean cooking solutions. Clean cooking solutions are essential to reduce high levels of household air pollution, which increase the risks from COVID-19 respiratory illnesses, especially among women and children. Access to energy is also needed to support adequate access to information through the internet and mobile phones, and at schools.
The world production and consumption of energy is still the largest source of global greenhouse gas emissions contributing to runaway climate change. Current levels of ambition related to renewable energy and energy efficiency do not match the efforts needed to meet the mitigation targets set out in the Paris Agreement.
While the COVID-19 response and recovery plans and large-scale economic stimulus packages constitute a unique opportunity to rapidly accelerate the urgent and necessary transition towards decarbonised, climate resilient energy systems and universal energy access, it is also possible that COVID-19 could derail this transition.
The Energy Policy Tracker shows that G20 nations have committed more COVID-19 recovery funds to fossil fuels than to clean energy.
Hence, the world is on its way to missing the opportunity to use the massive amount of funds made available to support economies to speed up the needed green transition and achieving SDG 7.
Sustainable response and recovery actions:
Sustainable recovery must accelerate a shift towards decarbonised energy systems and universal energy access. During the pandemic, renewables have proven more resilient than other parts of the energy sector, emphasising the importance of upscaling the production and investments in renewable energies – to improve global health standards, sector resilience and efficiency. Governments should invest in sustainable energy solutions to expand energy access, create jobs, improve health, make economies more competitive and resilient, and advance the SDGs.
Sustainable recovery that advances progress towards SDG 7 requires a mix of stronger political will, comprehensive enabling frameworks, long-term energy planning and increased public and private financing including through pandemic stimulus and recovery packages. It also requires removing inefficient fossil fuel subsidies while protecting vulnerable populations.
Visit the documents and resources listed in the “Key Human Rights Guidance” below for more information.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), art 25.1: Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family [..]
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), art. 14.2.: “States Parties shall take all appropriate measures to eliminate discrimination against women in rural areas in order to ensure, on a basis of equality of men and women, that they participate in and benefit from rural development and, in particular, shall ensure to such women the right:
14.2.h To enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to housing, sanitation, electricity and water supply, transport and communications”.
Key Human Rights Guidance:
- Accelerating achievement of SDG7 in the time of COVID-19, United Nations, Policy Brief, 2020
- The “just transition” in the economic recovery: eradicating poverty within planetary boundaries, UN Special Procedures, Report, 2020
- SDG 7 at the Heart of COVID-19 Response and Recovery, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Statement, 2020
- The role of energy in COVID-19 response, Sustainable energy for all, website
- COVID-19 Intensifies the Urgency to Expand Sustainable Energy Solutions Worldwide, World Bank, Press Release launching the Energy Progress Report, 2020
- Recommendations from human rights monitoring mechanisms linked to SDG 7 by country, Danish Institute for Human Rights, search page
- Human rights law and standards linked to SDG 7 by target, Danish Institute for Human Rights, search page
Explore all Recommendations from human rights monitoring mechanisms linked to SDG 7 by country
